Inheritance

Ye Chuan and Bai Qianshuang walked up the crumbling steps of the main hall. The snow crunched softly beneath their feet, as if echoing Bai Qianshuang’s memories.

"Seems like the good stuff must have been taken by the Qingyun Sect already?" Ye Chuan probed the surroundings with his spiritual sense but found nothing noteworthy.

However, in the Qingyun Sect’s scripture vault, Ye Chuan had once discovered many cultivation techniques from the Jade Void Sect.

When a sect was destroyed, its treasures were naturally divided among the victors.

"I wonder if the legacy still remains…" Bai Qianshuang murmured.

She believed the Jade Void Sect’s lineage hadn’t been severed. The fact that so many Qingyun Sect disciples were still searching here meant there was something they desired.

"Legacy…" Ye Chuan wasn’t entirely sure, but wasn’t that usually the foundation of a sect?

When they reached the broken wall behind the main hall, the spirit sword at Bai Qianshuang’s waist suddenly trembled faintly. A weak warmth radiated from the hilt, and then the spiritual patterns on the blade lit up on their own. A pale blue glow traced the engravings, resonating faintly with something hidden in the distant snowstorm.

"Hmm?" Bai Qianshuang paused, looking down at her sword in confusion. "How…?"

"Your weapon—why is it glowing?" Ye Chuan asked.

Bai Qianshuang didn’t understand either, but this spirit sword had been a gift from her master. "When my master sent me away, she told me to safeguard this weapon…"

Unless…

Ye Chuan also sensed the anomaly and followed the direction the sword’s light pointed—toward a snow-covered ruin behind the main hall, where only the tips of collapsed pillars peeked out from the blizzard.

"Let’s check it out."

"Alright!"

The two trudged through the snow toward the ruins.

The closer they got, the more intense the sword’s vibrations became. Its glow grew brighter, casting a pale blue trail on the snow ahead, as if outlining the contours of some formation.

Bai Qianshuang knelt, brushing away the snow to reveal faint runes carved into the stone beneath. The symbols seemed to resonate with the sword.

"This is…" She pressed the blade lightly against the runes and channeled a wisp of spiritual energy into them.

"Hummm—!"

The runes activated instantly. Pale blue light surged from beneath the stone, spreading along the cracks until a formation roughly ten feet wide materialized on the snow.

At the center, the snow melted away, exposing a flawless jade tile engraved with a symbol identical to the one on the sword’s hilt.

"This is the emblem of the Jade Void Sect." Bai Qianshuang took a deep breath, as if realizing something, and plunged the sword into the tile.

"Click!"

The jade tile sank downward before splitting apart, revealing a blue portal.

A surge of dense spiritual energy rushed out, carrying the pure essence of heaven and earth. The surrounding cold instantly dissipated, and snowflakes near the entrance crystallized into a delicate curtain of ice.

"A secret realm?" Ye Chuan was surprised, though he had seen something similar in the Qingyun Sect’s sacred grounds.

"This… is a secret realm entrance?" Bai Qianshuang whispered. She had spent years in the Jade Void Sect but never heard of a hidden realm beneath it.

"We’ll know once we go in."

Ye Chuan took Bai Qianshuang’s hand. "Let’s go."

Inside was a vast space dotted with shimmering ice crystals, as if fragments of the night sky had been frozen within. Looking up, they stood beneath a canopy of icy stars.

Bai Qianshuang glanced around—there were many artifacts stored here. But when her gaze fell below the platform, her body stiffened.

She stood frozen, as if witnessing something unimaginable.

"What’s wrong?" Ye Chuan followed her line of sight.

Beneath the platform stood a translucent, pale-blue figure—a woman dressed in Jade Void Sect robes, her features elegant yet dignified.

"Master!!!!" Bai Qianshuang’s eyes reddened instantly. Her voice trembled as she rushed forward, but her fingers passed through the figure’s ethereal glow—it was only a remnant of a soul, not a physical form.

"Qianshuang." The woman turned slowly, her voice gentle yet distant. "To think you’ve already reached the Spirit Transformation Realm in such a short time… Truly worthy of your innate Dao Body."

Bai Qianshuang reached out, grasping at nothing. "M-Master…"

"This is merely a wisp of my lingering will. Do not grieve…" The remnant spoke calmly.

Yet she couldn’t resist lifting a hand to caress Bai Qianshuang’s cheek, though her fingers phased through.

After a brief silence, the remnant sighed softly.

"Back then, the Qingyun Sect coveted our legacy. They feigned alliance while secretly conspiring with other sects to ambush us."

"The elders and I fought desperately to ensure your escape—so you could inherit this legacy and restore the Jade Void Sect."

"Then… what of the other elders and senior sisters?" Bai Qianshuang asked, her voice shaking.

"Nearly all perished in battle." A trace of guilt flickered in the remnant’s eyes. "I failed as your master. Not only was I poisoned and weakened, but I couldn’t protect the sect… nor you."

"No! You did everything you could!" Bai Qianshuang shook her head, tears streaming. "I will inherit the legacy, avenge our sect, and make the Jade Void Sect rise again!"

The remnant smiled faintly before turning to Ye Chuan with an unreadable gaze.

"Young man, where are you from? What is your name?"

Ye Chuan answered, "Senior, I am Ye Chuan. I’m not from the Tianxuan Continent."

"Not… from Tianxuan?"

"No." Ye Chuan briefly explained his encounter with Bai Qianshuang. The remnant listened, then nodded thoughtfully.

"No, you are from Tianxuan."

Ye Chuan froze.

"I am Su Qinghan, master of the Jade Void Sect." The remnant didn’t dwell on it, only adding, "Thank you for saving Qianshuang."

Ye Chuan shook his head. "No, Sect Master Su. Strictly speaking, she saved me as well."

Su Qinghan smiled faintly before beckoning Bai Qianshuang closer.

"My time is short, Qianshuang. Come here… Do you know what the Jade Void Sect’s legacy truly is?"

"Isn’t it our sect’s techniques and martial arts?" Bai Qianshuang asked, uncertain.

"No. It is the legacy of an empress." Su Qinghan’s voice was barely a whisper.

"The supreme inheritance… of the Luo Xuan Empress."